


I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining

by dixiehellcat



Series: Tony Stark Bingo Round 4 [15]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Infinity Stones, Multiverse Shenanigans, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peggy Carter Deserves Her Life, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Steve gets his dance, idk them, the Russos whomst, though not as canon would have it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29567562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dixiehellcat/pseuds/dixiehellcat
Summary: Steve’s trip to Camp Lehigh to return the Tesseract doesn’t quite go as planned, but it might be better, for him, and for the timeline he leaves behind.Fills the "FREE" square on my Round 4 Tony Stark Bingo card number 4028. (required info collected below)
Relationships: Peggy Carter & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Howard Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo Round 4 [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009245
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo Mark IV





	I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining

**Author's Note:**

> Another 'choose your own adventure' type fic! This time, you can read this short as fitting into whatever post-Endgame setting you like, as long as it's understood that neither Natasha nor Tony died. It stands alone just fine, but also can fit within two of my AU series, Wordsmith, or Two Roads Diverged. (Specifically, if you are coming from the Wordsmith series, you will recognize this as the incident Steve alludes to in chapter 37 of book 9.) As for the special someone Steve hopes to have a chance with...fill in the blank as you like. My two AUs suggest specific people, but no reason you can't ship whoever you wish. :)
> 
> Bingo specifics:  
> Title: I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining  
> Author: deehellcat  
> Card Number: 4028  
> Link (AO3, Tumblr, etc.)  
> Square Filled (Letter AND number AND prompt) A3, free square  
> Ship/Main Pairing: Peggy and Steve  
> Rating (Gen, Teen, Mature, Explicit) gen  
> Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Infinity Stones, Not Avengers Endgame Compliant, Wordsmith Verse Compliant, Two Roads Diverged Verse Compliant, Steve Gets His Dance, just not the way canon had it, the Russos whomst, idk them, Peggy Carter Deserves Her Life, Post-Avengers Endgame  
> Summary: Steve’s trip to Camp Lehigh to return the Tesseract doesn’t quite go as planned, but it might be better, for him, and for the timeline he leaves behind.  
> Word Count: 3024

Steve was still shaken from his confrontation on Vormir when he activated the GPS on his wrist to leap through the multiverse to his last stop. He had, in the end, managed to restrain himself from punching the Red Skull into the next millennium, but his mind was still half on that distant, barren planet. That distraction was what he blamed for the fact that, instead of having replaced the Tesseract safely in the vault Tony had lifted it from and getting the hell out of 1970, he was currently pinned down in an office at Camp Lehigh, cornered by a gun-toting and very angry Peggy Carter. “Bruce and Tony are gonna kill me,” he mourned. “Dammit, Peg—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snarled. 

He caught the unspoken part— _you aren’t Steve Rogers, you have no right to say my name that way_ —but chose not to acknowledge it. In fact, there might be less chance of him fouling up this timeline any more than he already had, if he pretended to be someone else. The thing was, he wasn’t at all sure he could. God, he’d almost forgotten how hot she was when in a rage. “Yeah, true, sorry about that, Mrs., um, him.” He gestured toward the photo of a man and children on her desk. “Fortunate guy, whoever he is. Brave one, too, to take you on. I bet you keep him in line. The kids are, uh, cute. I guess. You know I’ve never been all about kids—”

“Steve Rogers never talked this much.”

He was annoyed with himself as it was, and it spilled over in her general direction then. “I have a friend who talks to fill space when he’s nervous. Suppose I picked the habit up from him, because heaven knows, I know how accurate you are with that Walther at close range, so how about you put it down and let me be on my way?” His instinctive identification of the sidearm she favored hadn’t been an intentional thing, but it seemed to have landed with her and made her at least blink. That gave him a chance to reach for the GPS on his wrist. _No sudden moves, Rogers, you really don’t want to go back with any extra holes in you._

Two things happened the next moment that made him stop before his fingers could activate the return coordinates. Peggy seemed to shake off her moment of hesitation and snap “Keep those hands perfectly still, blast you!” at the same instant the office door flew open and Howard Stark rushed in.

“Peg, I forgot to ask, and please, make it snappy or Maria will make sure I don’t live to be a father, but have you heard from—” He screeched to a halt when his eyes met Steve’s. “Who the hell is that?”

“Precisely what I’m hoping to find out,” she said, cool as ever.

Howard’s eyes narrowed. “I saw him outside, just a couple of minutes ago, with the scientist I was talking to, the fellow from MIT. Wasn’t paying attention, in a rush to get home, but…he looks a lot like…”

Steve groaned aloud and threw up his hands—literally, but just a short distance, since he still did not want to end up perforated. “Um, hi, Howard. Yes, it’s me, sort of. If the wizard in 2012 was right, I’ve already screwed up this timeline just by you catching me, Peg; so what is it you always said, might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb?” That took her aback again, and this time Steve pressed his small advantage. “Look, I’m not here to hurt anybody, I’m not here to take anything, I’ve done what I came here to do so now I just need to go—”

“Where?” Peggy said, her tone remaining sharp, but her stance betraying a hint of uncertainty.

“Home,” he said, and halted, struck by the realization that the word was truth. The past, this one or any other one, was not his home anymore; it wasn’t where he belonged.

The tense silence was broken, naturally, by Howard. “So,” he said and ambled over, deceptively casual. “You look like our old friend, long gone; you say you’re ‘sort of’ him but you aren’t from around here; you didn’t come here to take anything; and you babble about wizards and timelines. Quite the puzzle, young man.”

Despite the exigencies of the situation, Steve had to smile. “You always were good at getting down to brass tacks, Howard.” His friend’s face had aged, but the glint in his eye was all too familiar. “I should let you get about working that puzzle. You’re a brain, you’ll make headway, and if you don’t get it all pieced together, you’ll leave it for somebody who will.”

He reached for his wrist again, but suddenly Peg was in his face, the hand not training her pistol on him gripping his arm. She glared at the GPS and took hold as though to remove it. “Don’t waste your effort,” he told her. “The fella who made it can remove it.” 

Technically, that was true. Tony _could_ remove it, but so could any of the time heist team. Howard, naturally, saw right through the deception. “Bullshit. Any engineer worth his salt wouldn’t let somebody run around in a watch they couldn’t take off, if it got caught in a fanbelt or a door handle. That’d take a hand off, even yours.” He halted and ran a hand over his face. “Hellfire, Peg, listen to me. I’m talking to this bozo like he’s…”

“It’s all right, Howard.” Peg let go of Steve’s arm and fixed that steady, no-nonsense gaze on him, the one he had missed for so long that he almost choked with emotion. “You said you didn’t come here to harm or steal. What did you come here to do, then?”

Steve shook his head. “Can’t tell you that, Peg.” If they searched the whole base, somebody might notice the case he had carried the Stones in, tucked away in a dusty corner in the basement of the admin building near the safe where the Tesseract lay; but they would never be able to assemble the story behind it, and that was definitely for the best. 

“Who are you?” Finally, her voice shook, just a bit, but enough for him to catch it. He was breaking her heart, and he had to seize this moment to escape, but…he just couldn’t leave her like this. 

“I am Steve Rogers. Just—not your Steve. We needed to borrow something, from here, to save our universe. I returned it, now I’m going home, before I mess up your futures more than I already have.”

“Timelines,” Howard said suddenly. “A fella I know at the Pentagon has this crazy theory about multiple universes. Sounds an awful lot like what you’re saying. You mentioned a date over forty years from now. I could do with some details about how you claim to be able to hop between them!”

Steve shook his head. “I know just enough to get where I’m going and back in one piece. I’m not the genius who figured out how.”

“That’s the man I’d like to meet,” Howard said fervently, and Steve had to smile. “I’ll go pick Everett’s brain, and maybe two old men from the seventies will drop in on the dinosaurs, or Da Vinci or some—”

“Howard,” Peg’s voice turned harsh. “I understand you wanting him to be—to be Steve. I do. But we can’t take him at his word. What if he’s—”

“What, Peg?” Steve said. “What could I say that would convince you? What was between you and your Steve might not be exactly the same as mine. Maybe that dance you promised me? Want me to step on your toes at the Stork Club?” Again he shook his head. “You don’t. My Peg had lived a good long life by the time I saw her again, and I was glad for it. She told me to get on with my life, and I might finally be getting there. Of course, in order to do that, I have to get _back_ there, so.”

Peggy wet her lips, and Steve’s eyes darted to them without any pretense of repressing it. He missed her kiss, missed her, still; but he wasn’t about to drag another Peggy from her destiny. Just a tap on the GPS, and this would all be over. “I shouldn’t, God help me,” she said quietly, “but I think I believe you.” She took a step back and lowered her pistol. “Go.”

He was ready to—but the pain in her face hurt worse than a bullet would have. “He’s probably still alive,” he found himself blurting. “Your Steve, I mean. I can’t be sure. Timelines are different, but we chose the ones we borrowed from because they were as similar to ours as we could find.”

“Still what?” Howard frowned. “I’ve been looking for the _Valkyrie_ for years. We were looking for the plane—for the bombs, and the, ah, cargo, and his—his body, but—how could he be alive?” 

“Because I was,” Steve said simply. The Ancient One would kick him halfway across the galaxy if she knew he was messing deliberately with a timeline, but he’d already screwed hers up by telling his 2012 self that his Bucky was alive, and he just couldn’t leave these people he had cared about ignorant and sad. The puzzlement yielding to a spark of hope in Peg’s eyes was worth it, to his heart. “It’s not far from where you found the Tesseract, Howard. I can leave you the coordinates.”

“The Tesseract! How the hell do you—” Howard shook his head. “Never mind. Here, write ‘em out for me. Peg, can you rustle up as many of the search team as are around? Let’s hop right on this.” As she holstered her gun finally and stepped out the door to call to a courier, Howard dropped his voice, “That’s what you came here for, isn’t it? The Tesseract.” Steve did not reply, but his hesitation before he took the pencil Howard handed him must have said enough. “Hah, thought so. I knew that thing was invaluable. What, d’ya lose yours?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

“And it’s wasted breath to ask why, I’m sure.” 

“Specifically, yes. In general…” Steve thought for a moment. How much could he tell them? “Make sure your own house is clean first, Howard, yours and Peg’s. Then, keep an eye on the skies.”

“More riddles.” Howard looked torn between annoyance and deep intrigue. Steve just shrugged and started scratching down the location where he had been found. “It was that pal of yours, wasn’t it?” Howard went on. “The one with the hippie beard. Howard Potts. He snagged the Tesseract.” To Steve’s nod, he went on, “I thought it was suspicious he just so happened to have the same first name as me.”

“It was him, yeah. Not Howard Potts, though. You said you wanted to meet the fella who invented the whole quantum travel setup? Well, you did. It’s him. Tony. Tony Stark, to be exact. The boy you’re about to become father to.”

Howard caught his breath. “He…he talked about his dad, quite a bit. He said his father did his best. Said he told him no amount of money ever bought a second of time.” Steve nodded; he remembered when Tony had first told him that, how he had said _that sounds like Howard_. “There’s so much I want to know, and I’m sure you have to keep most of it under your lid, but—what’s he like? Not a spy, I hope, he’s not very good at that.”

They laughed together this time. “No, not a spy. The spies we work with would agree with your assessment. Tony would too, for that matter. He’s amazing, though. The smartest, bravest, best man I’ve ever known. No offense.”

“None taken. Smart I can claim, the rest, not so much.” A reflective look came over Howard’s face, as though digesting all this. “How’d he end up that damn good,” he said quietly after a moment, “with me as his old man?”

“I’m not gonna lie, Howard. Tony’s told us enough that I know you—well, our timeline’s you--wasn’t exactly Father of the Year.”

“But…he hugged me, thanked me, so maybe I’m not a lost cause. Maybe I can pull this off. A little advance notice never hurt anybody, and if—no, when—we find our Steve, he’ll be a good uncle, help keep me on the straight and narrow.” Steve hadn’t thought about that, but it was reasonable, and without being fixated on finding Captain America, hopefully this Howard would spend more time with his son. “He said he has a little girl, Steve. I’m gonna have a granddaughter one day? I think I can spoil a girl.” In the face of Howard’s enthusiasm, Steve hesitated, and Howard noticed it. “I’m not gonna live to see her, am I?”

“In our timeline you didn’t. This one may be different, I’ve already changed it just by opening my big yap. Which reminds me—” Steve flipped the paper over and began to scribble again. “When you clean SHIELD up, one of the strings you pull is gonna lead you to a fella called the Winter Soldier. Here’s some things you’ll need to know. Get your Steve to help. Oh, and when you find the _Valkyrie_ and pull him up, please, for the love of Mike, don’t let anybody try to ‘ease him into’ the world by making him think it’s still 1945.”

Howard looked appalled now. “Who would ever…Never mind. If we can locate him, he’ll manage just fine, even after twenty-five years.” Suddenly he squinted again at Steve. “Wait. Potts—Tony—he definitely looked older than twenty-five. When did they find you?” Steve opened his mouth, unsure how much more to say, but Howard shook his head the next moment. “Never mind. More secrets. Fine, I’ll wing it, you know I do a lot of my best work that way.” His face softened a little. “My best, like he said. He looks a little like me, but he has Maria’s eyes.” He looked down with a small smile, which turned into a gulp as his eyes clearly fell on his wristwatch. “I better hustle or I’ll be his divorced father!” He slapped Steve on the shoulder. “Safe travels, and thanks for everything. If Jarvis hasn’t given up and left me, I’m off to convince my wife not to name our son Almanzo.”

“Almanzo??” Steve sputtered.

Howard lifted a shoulder. “Crazy about Laura Ingalls Wilder. What can I say, no accounting for tastes. Anthony is much better though. I think I can win her over.”

He grinned and opened the office door to find Peg coming back in. “I sent out notices for a meeting in the morning to go over the new coordinates and set up a search expedition,” she said to Howard’s retreating back, and frowned while she rejoined Steve standing by her desk. “He certainly seems excited.” Steve shrugged, handed her the notes he had scribbled and reiterated what he had explained to Howard about finding his counterpart. “You do know that I’m married.”

“Well, yeah.” He flipped a hand toward the framed photo. “It’s not like I’m trying to set you two up. Your Cap’ll understand. When I was found, my Peg gave me a little talking to. Took a while for it to sink in, but I made a new start. I have plenty of friends, accomplished a lot, have options for the road ahead of me. And I have…somebody…special. Maybe? I hope. Gonna try, anyway. I got there. Your Steve will too. You go on, live your life, and be happy.”

She sniffed. “I’ll thank you not to try and tell me what to do.”

“As if I'd ever dare,” he laughed, and after a beat, she joined him in the laughter. “One thing, before I get going…I _was_ promised a dance. Just because you’re a married lady, does that mean the deal is off?”

“You didn’t claim it from your Peggy?”

“She was…a little too old to dance, by the time they thawed me out.” He started, awkwardly, to try and explain what little he grasped of the whole quantum realm thing, but Peg threw up her hands only a minute in. 

“Enough! This is Howard’s department. You’re giving me a headache. Stop, before I throw you back into this timestream of yours like an undersized trout.”

She flipped on the radio sitting on her bookshelf, and Steve looked over at it with interest. “Haven’t seen one like that in a while, having gone from 1945 straight to—”

He caught himself and glanced guiltily over, but far from seeming piqued, a slow smile spread over Peg’s face. “You don’t have to tell me more. Come on, I’m happy to step up for her.” She put out her hand, Steve took it, and they swayed to the gentle tune. _Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head, but that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red, Cryin’s not for me…_ “You’ve gotten a bit better.”

“Had a few good teachers,” he explained, thinking with a smile of all the times Natasha had tried to teach him to stay off his partner's toes. The song ended, and Peg’s lips brushed his cheek. “I hate to have to leave you.”

“Oh, do go on. Your future needs you back. I’m happy to help you turn this page, I suppose, and I'm fine waiting until my Steve comes for his dance.” She stepped back and let go of him. “Off with you, now. You don’t want to be late, again.”

Steve snorted. “One nice thing about this tech, I can’t be late. Goodbye, Peg. Take care.” He activated the GPS and felt it pull him back to his world, and the life he was building there.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the song Steve and Peggy dance to, and from which the story takes its title. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, by BJ Thomas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VyA2f6hGW4
> 
> And the guy Howard mentions as having ideas about the multiverse in the 70s was real! You can read about him here. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26261-hugh-everett-the-man-who-gave-us-the-multiverse/


End file.
